Business

Longbow missiles demonstrate littoral attack Capability

The U.S. Army and Navy, with assistance from Lockheed Martin, recently conducted Longbow missile demonstration firings to showcase the missile’s ability to counter littoral threats, making the weapon an effective candidate for potential use in operational shipboard launches.

During the demonstrations, multiple U.S. Army Longbow missiles were fired from a launch fixture provided by the U.S. Navy aboard a 65-foot surface craft. The launches represented a variety of progressively more complex scenarios, with the missiles successfully engaging multiple incoming high-speed boat targets at a range of six kilometers.

This demonstration proved that the Longbow missile can counter fast-attack craft in realistic situations, representing an efficient path forward for shipboard launches with a weapon already in government inventory.

“This was the second demonstration firing conducted by the Army with Lockheed Martin assistance,” said Hady Mourad, director of Advanced Programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “These firings showed the capability of the existing Longbow missile in a new littoral threat environment, and also verified the vertical-launch capability of the missile. Earlier this year, we demonstrated the use of Longbow from an Apache helicopter against a representative littoral target.”

The fire-and-forget Longbow missile uses millimeter-wave guidance to lock onto targets before or after launch. The demonstrations were the first vertical launches of the Longbow missile and the first lock-on after launch of a Longbow missile against maritime targets.

The tests were conducted near Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., with the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center and the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division.

Local military discounts

News: Carter: Military leaders could arm more troops at home – Following the recent fatal shooting of four Marines and a sailor in Tennessee, Defense Secretary Ash Carter is ordering the military services to consider new policies that would enhance security for troops at home, including potentially arming more personnel. Business: DOD weighs supplier base,...

U.S. delivering eight newer F-16 warplanes to Egypt The United States Embassy in Cairo says the U.S. is delivering eight newer F-16 warplanes to Egypt as part of an ongoing military support package. It says in a July 30 statement that the aircraft, of the current Block 52 production variant, will be flown in from...

Lockheed Martin photograph A protective panel for Orion’s service module is jettisoned during testing at Lockheed Martin’s Sunnyvale, California facility. This test series evaluated design changes to the spacecraft’s fair...

Northrop Grumman has awarded the first Australian supplier contract for the U.S. Navy’s MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system initial production lot to Ferra Engineering. Brisbane-based Ferra Engineering will manufacture mechanical sub-assemblies for the first four Triton air vehicles including structural components. “At Northrop Grumman it’s very important to not only develop...

Boeing photograph The CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter commonly known as the “Phrog,” is set to retire and to be flown one last time by Reserve Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 774 on Aug. 1. The CH-46 Sea Knight is a med...

Under the terms of its latest contract, Insitu will build six RQ-21A Blackjack systems for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The $78-million Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems Lot IV Low Rate Initial Production contract is the latest event in the program’s progression toward the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation phase. “This award will...

Information

Publisher

Aerotech News and Review is published every Friday serving the aerospace and defense industry of Southern California, Nevada and Arizona. News and ad copy deadline is noon on the Tuesday prior to publication. The publisher assumes no responsibility for error in ads other than space used.

Disclaimer

The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, or Aerotech News and Review, Inc., of the products or services advertised.